Secrets and the Dog Park
by YourRhineStoneEyes
Summary: Carlos and Cecil enter the dog park initially to figure out what the place really is, but things go a different direction, and Carlos ends up discovering something about his boyfriend that Cecil had not wanted him to find out about.
1. Chapter 1

There were in fact dogs inside of the dog park, Carlos was quickly regretting the decision to enter the forbidden area. If it hadn't been for Dana's disappearance into possibly another dimension they never would have entered this dreaded place. Originally he had planned to go in with a team of other scientists, but the moment that Cecil found out about what he was planning on doing he insisted on coming along. Of course no other scientists wanted to go along with him and no matter what he said Cecil could only insist on joining him, insisting he was sick of being useless and watching his friends dying and disappearing all around him. Carlos really wanted to argue him, but he hadn't felt in the mood to do so and he could tell just by looking into the older man's bright violet eyes that there was no way he could tell him not to go.

Carlos had hoped that Cecil would stick by him when they entered the dog park, but somehow they had gotten separated. He had really wanted them to stick together, he spent nearly an hour (or at least an hour as far as he could tell, in Night Vale it was hard to tell if it was an actual hour or maybe less) looking for the radio host, but he had no success in finding him.

He thought about when they had first entered, Cecil had had a tight grasp on his hand determined to not leave the scientist side. Carlos had told him to take a weapon, the place was dangerous. In response his boyfriend had only given him a sharp toothed grin and shook his head, insisting that he didn't have any use for one.

That was an hour ago, supposedly over an hour ago. Now Carlos was cornered somewhere far away from gates, metal trees, and doors that appeared with no structure around them. He was backed against an endlessly tall gray stone wall with a pack of 'dogs' surrounding him; these dogs weren't even what he wanted to consider dogs. He knew in Night Vale the animals weren't actually normal breeds like in the outside world, but these dogs were something else; something very malicious. There were about nine of them coming towards him, their bodies large like wolves, nothing but smoky blackness and glowing red eyes; their mouths were wide open exposing rows of long sharp teeth. He had swung at them with the sword he brought along with him, the blade had gone right through them, almost like they were air. For some reason everything from the dogs, humans, and hooded figures everything in the dog park weren't completely there.

Yet these dogs were there enough that they were just a single second away from ripping Carlos to shreds. He tried not to think too hard about Cecil, he didn't want to think that the dogs had gotten to him; damn it he wished the purple eyed man had taken a weapon with him, maybe he would have had a better chance.

The dogs moved closer, Carlos's eyes darted around for a route out, but there was none. He held his breath and closed his eyes.

He wondered how long it would hurt to be killed, it had hurt like a bitch when the city of tiny people under the bowling alley had stabbed and shot at him. This would be worse, he knew that.

Nothing happened.

Suddenly there was this intensive silence followed by a loud growl, he kept his eyes tightly closed until he heard the sound of a body being thrown against the ground.

He looked to see a familiar looking Native American male who looked to be in his early thirties, he wasn't tall or short, fat or thin, his familiar violet eyes avoided Carlos completely. If it weren't for those eyes he never would have known it was the man he'd been dating for nearly a year now.

He watched as another dog was thrown to the ground its spine breaking; this was the part that shocked him more than the fact he'd nearly been ripped to shreds by Hell hounds. Cecil looked like Cecil except for the four long black tendrils sprouting from his back, the ones that were wrapping painfully tightly around the shadow dogs breaking their bones and tossing them to the side. On his forehead right in the center was a third eye, completely white and slightly glowing. His long black hair fell over his face as he threw the final dog against the wall just a few feet away from where Carlos stood. He was angry, beyond angry; some sort of defensive rage. It was almost like he didn't even notice Carlos standing there until the last dog was dead, finally his eyes landed on Carlos and all the rage gave way to fear. The black tendrils shrunk back considerably, Carlos knew he had to look shocked maybe even freaked out, and Hell he was freaked out. His boyfriend had sprouted tendrils and a third eye, a minute ago he thought Cecil had been killed by dogs but now he was here and he was...It was weird.

"Cecil?" His voice came out as sort of squeak, he felt confused.

He moved a step towards the older man only for Cecil to back away from him, he shook his head in refusal.

"I'm so sorry Carlos" He whispered before turning and leaving.

Carlos tried chasing after him, but the older man was too fast for him. He exited the dog park strangely enough he ended up outside of his apartment, if he hadn't been so concerned with following Cecil then he probably would have paid more mind to just how he found his way out of the dog park or why it led him right to his home.

He figured it must have had led Cecil back to his own apartment or maybe the radio station, he thought about going to both places in search for the other man, but he was still in shock. He'd nearly died, he hadn't discovered a damned thing, and his boyfriend had a third eye and tendrils sprouting from his back. He never noticed that, he was pretty sure that was something a person would notice at one point or another; Hell maybe it was just something about the dog park, but how scared Cecil had looked, how he had apologized, and that even explained why he said he didn't need a weapon. This was something that had been going on for a long time, maybe even the entirety of his life, but for whatever reason he hadn't told Carlos a thing about it.

He felt like a dick about how he reacted, he knew shock was reasonable, but he also knew that it had hurt his boyfriend's feelings.

Carlos sat down on the navy blue couch in his too small living room, he ran his fingers back through his hair that he wouldn't mind cutting but knew how upset it would make Cecil.

He thought about it, thought about what he had seen; he asked himself if it really bothered him. He discovered that it didn't, he discovered that he was more okay with this than a normal man should be. It was still a shock, he had a hundred or so questions he wished to ask; that all of course depended on if Cecil was willing to talk to him again. This was something the older man hadn't wanted him to know about, hadn't wanted him to see, but why now?

He was still the same person; the same radio host with the dark menacing voice that could turn valley girl within a second or less, the same man who obsessed over Carlos for a year, and the same one the scientist had fallen in love with. It wasn't like Cecil had ever looked purely normal; no person that Carlos could think of had violet eyes unless of course they were wearing contact lenses or if there was some strange genetic mutation, then how pointed and fang like the man's teeth were was also something abnormal. Those things had never really bothered him though, they were odd, but in a way that was fascinating; if anything he'd felt a bit comforted the first time Cecil smiled at him. He wasn't threatening, well back in the dog park he had been, but only to the Hell hounds that had been ready to kill Carlos.

No he hadn't planned on Carlos ever finding this out, but it had happened. He knew his chances of reaching Cecil that night would be close to impossible; he knew his boyfriend would be worrying, angry with himself, and probably mentally abusing himself over what had happened. He wouldn't answer his phone, door, or reply to text messages; Carlos wished he could talk to him about it, tell him that he had seen so many things in Night Vale in his time there that his boyfriend sprouting a few extra limbs seemed pretty normal.

He knew that wouldn't happen, not tonight anyway. He would try him tomorrow or maybe the day after that; he still needed time to think about what had happened and Cecil needed time to figure his own things out.


	2. Chapter 2

Cecil couldn't believe he had allowed that to happen, he had never meant for Carlos to see him in that way.

The radio host slumped back against the door of his apartment, he groaned as he ran his hands down over his face. His tendrils had fully dissolved back into place, hidden like they should be at all times; he'd been so good about keeping them hidden. His third eye on the other hand, his telepathic eye had this bad habit of opening at randomized times. That one mostly happened while he was on the air though, it would show him other cities or people and he would go with the flow. That was never really a bother, but Carlos hadn't known about the third eye, and he had most definitely not known about the tendrils. He couldn't forget the look on his face, he looked terrified and who could blame him?

Night Vale really wasn't normal, not compared to the rest of the world, but even by Night Vale standards Cecil was a freak. He wasn't born with extra limbs, they just happened; it confused him and scared him when he tried to think about them. When he tried to think back to missing pieces that could explain why this happened to him over the past few years. He'd been normal, normal enough; his eyes and teeth had always been this way, but the rest wasn't so natural. The tentacles appeared one day; they appeared with this horrible searing pain in his back, infected looking red stitched up lines along his back. He probably should have questioned it more, but he figured City Council or the Faceless Old Woman had done something to him while he had slept; something harmless that would go away within a day or two. It had shocked him when the tentacles first appeared, it had scared him, and he had asked around if other people had them. They all looked at him like he was stupid, sometimes he felt like a lot of the people around town found him to be a bit on the dumb side. His third eye allowed him to see and communicate with things they didn't acknowledge or honestly just couldn't see or hear. It worried him, but he learned to deal with it; he learned the tendrils once he gained slight control over them only manifested when he was in high emotional states. Especially rage.

What was he supposed to do? Just let those shadow hounds kill his beautiful, perfect Carlos?

No matter how much he loathed himself, his body (he hated considering these things as part of his body) he would never allow that to keep him from protecting the man that he loved.

He hadn't really thought all too much about it at the time; he hadn't really wanted to separate from Carlos's side when they entered the Dog Park, but the next thing he had known he was wandering in a field. It had been stranger, just this endless field of almost literally lively green grass and white flowers, and then he'd heard Carlos screaming. He ran and he saw the hounds and his boyfriend cornered waiting for his very life to be ended. It had scared the radio host, it had also filled him with rage; he refused to let them hurt somebody that he loved more than his own life. He had spent so much time in his life just sitting in a booth in a radio studio, listening, watching, and being told about his friends being killed or sucked into other dimensions or endless voids. Dana was gone, possibly forever; he couldn't even so much as call or text her as much as he had tried. Their conversations had been broken and God how useless that had made him feel. He had nearly lost Carlos once and he refused to let that happen again. So the tendrils and third eye had manifested, his mind had gone slightly hazy, and his teeth had elongated slightly more than their normal sharpened state. He had hoped in the back of his mind that Carlos would have kept his eyes closed while he had taken care of the dogs, hoped that he would see him that way. The second he locked eyes with his boyfriend with his perfect hair and beautiful brown eyes he had been brought back to reality. He had felt self aware, disgusted with himself, ashamed, and embarrassed. When the other man had gone to touch him, to come close to him he had flinched away, and he had run until he ended up back at his own apartment.

Now he sat curled up on the floor his back pressed against his now closed and locked door, his legs pulled up against his chest and arms wrapped around them. He cursed at himself beneath his breath as he thought about it, Carlos had tried to catch up with him; wasn't he angry or grossed out?

Surely he had been, he had looked scared and slightly disgusted.

Cecil groaned as he thought about his past boyfriends. The ones he had after the tendrils came, originally he didn't think anybody would really mind the tendrils. That was until he finally showed them to somebody, showed them to somebody that he loved; the man had looked at him with such repulsion, had called him a repulsive freak, had hit him, and then stormed out to never talk to him again. Everybody after that reacted with similar statements and actions; so many bad relationships with horrible guys all because of the stupid parts he wasn't supposed to have. The parts that came from nowhere, what did he do to deserve this?

He thought about perfect Carlos, perfectly understanding Carlos, but he couldn't understand this. He hated him, he would never want to see Cecil again. Well maybe to break up with him or thoroughly insult him; he hated to think that his boyfriend could turn on him so quickly or in such a violent manner, but they had all turned out that way once they saw his true self. Was this his true self?

Hell maybe he had been a monster all along, he'd just never known it.

He thought about tomorrow; thought about how he had all day to himself, hopefully Carlos would be too busy through the day to call or visit him. By night Cecil would be at the station and he would ignore his phone if it rang, of course unless it was an intern or Dana. He wanted to see Carlos, wanted him to tell him that he accepted him and loved him, but he knew better than that. He knew the other man wouldn't accept him the way that he wanted, needed. He just wanted his perfect, beautiful boyfriend to hold him and reassure him that he loved him no matter how disgusting he looked.


	3. Chapter 3

While working in his lab the following day Carlos realized he really didn't care about the two new things he'd discovered about his boyfriend's physical appearance. He had doubt about it, thought that maybe he was telling himself after the incident that he was fine with this. That it didn't bother him or scare him, but the following day after a decent enough night of sleep he realized it didn't matter one bit. Cecil was still human or at least mostly human, even if he wasn't really human he didn't care as much as another person might care. He wondered if other people in town knew about Cecil's appearance, but being Night Vale he felt they surely knew about it and that nobody talked about it, because it wasn't nearly as weird as a woman giving birth to a man's hand or a boy growing an extra head that could only speak Russian.

He felt happy and relieved when he came to terms with the fact that this didn't bother him, that he loved him as much as before. Nothing changed how he felt about or saw the purple eyed man; he was still the same smooth voiced radio host who often gushed about him on air or chided him over the air to basically the entire town. He was still the same man who spent nearly every other night at his apartment curled up against him. He was the same Cecil, but now with something that Carlos hadn't been aware of before. It didn't matter, but it was scientifically interesting; not like he wanted to make his boyfriend into an experiment, but he wanted to ask some questions. He'd always been prone to questioning everything, it was why church hadn't worked, but science had made him feel okay with wanting to know answers to everything. Living in Night Vale made wanting answers a bit difficult though...

Once he was alone in the lab he tried to call Cecil; strangely enough he never answered. Carlos left him a voice mail telling him he needed to see him after he was done with his broadcast, they needed to talk about yesterday.

He waited patiently for a call back, but never received one.

He sent text messages, but never received replies.

He felt a bit on the over bearing side at this point, but it was Night Vale and he couldn't help being concerned that his usually almost overly attached boyfriend wasn't answering his phone. He made himself take a break, told himself there were many logical reasons why Cecil wouldn't answer his phone. One of the less rational reasons being that his phone was alive again and wouldn't allow him to even touch it without it cutting his hand, though it hadn't done that for a couple of months now.

When night time rolled around and he was the last one left in the lab he turned on the radio to confirm for himself that nothing was wrong with the older man. He felt relieved when he heard Cecil's voice coming through the speakers, he was at work which meant that he was fine. The more he listened though he realized he wasn't completely fine, something about his voice was off; he sounded a bit soft spoken like he wasn't as confident as he normally was. He thought back and realized as far as he could tell Cecil hadn't been hurt in the Dog Park, he hadn't gotten to speak to him or see him much that night. It hurt knowing the other man was fine, physically anyways but he still wouldn't call or text Carlos back.

Was he pissed off at him?

He couldn't think of a reason why, honestly the scared animal look he'd seen in the other man's abnormally colored eyes seemed more like he was worried Carlos would yell at him or hurt him.

The thought was obscene it was so ridiculous, but he'd looked so scared.

He acted like he had to apologize for the way he looked, for being that way in front of Carlos. He understood that Cecil didn't want him to find out about it or see him like that, but he had to realize that he didn't care. He loved him, Night Vale was weirder than an episode of the Twilight Zone, and if anything seeing his boyfriend's appearance only made him love him more.

Once the broadcast ended he tried calling him again, texting him, and even messaging him on facebook. Not a single reply, no answers or anything of that sort; it got to the point where he wanted to go to the station or go to his apartment, but he decided against it. He couldn't think of anything else to do other than sit around and wait for Cecil to decide to answer his phone or come to him.

Carlos worked for another hour or two then forced himself to leave and go on up to his apartment. He was exhausted, but he couldn't get himself to sleep. Instead he tried to make a pot of coffee, that didn't work due to the fact his coffee maker was emitting some weird green smoke and growled when he went to fill it with water. Carlos went back to his bedroom, undressed, and lay down on the bed staring up at his ceiling. He held his phone tightly in his hand occasionally checking it just in case he missed the sound of a new message or his ring tone; there was still nothing. He sent one more text message, before finally getting himself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Hearing Cecil's voice over the radio for the past couple of days should have been a consolation, it should have made him feel better knowing that his boyfriend was at least well enough to attend work each day like usual. It didn't comfort him though, it only frustrated and worried him more; he didn't understand why Cecil wasn't talking to him or trying to communicate with him. Yesterday he hadn't even done so much as send a text to the purple eyed man, he wondered if maybe he'd hear something if he didn't bug him. The following day he realized that wasn't going to work.

Carlos sat down in the lab completely alone, his coworkers had gone to their respective homes and motel rooms hours ago. He was left by himself just staring at the radio, listening to the usual broadcast; the only difference being the monotone sound to Cecil's voice; an absence of life. It bothered him hearing him that way, he wanted to fix it, but it was hard to do anything when Cecil refused to talk to him.

When the weather came on Carlos decided to give it one more try; he called the other man not even expecting a response.

"Hello?"

He nearly fell out of his chair at the sound of Cecil's curious voice on the other end of the phone. He really hadn't expected him to answer.

"H-hey it's um it's Carlos"

He felt nervous and he felt awkward along with stupid at this point. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say or what he should ask, he had known things he wanted to talk about, but that was when Cecil hadn't been answering his phone.

"Oh"

That was it, just a simple 'oh'.

"Please don't hang up"

There was a pause before the other man spoke, "What do you want?"

He didn't sound annoyed when he asked the question, his voice was still soft and a bit uneasy.

"We need to talk, a-about what happened at the Dog Park; c-could you meet me at the Arby's after your show is done?"

Another pause long enough this time that Carlos worried Cecil had hung up on him.

"Okay"

This time he did hang up, but at least he had answered, and he was agreeing to meet up with him. He only had ten more minutes and then he could talk to him about what had happened; he felt like they were in two completely different places right now with this. He wondered if Cecil hated him or maybe Cecil thought he hated him; that would make more sense.

Carlos waited a couple of minutes before leaving the lab and getting into his car and heading to the place they always met at when something important happened. The place they had met after Carlos had momentarily been dead after the incident in the bowling alley, the place they had met after Cecil had been on the subway for possibly years, and now the place they would meet after the Dog Park incident.

He sat on the trunk of his car staring up towards the night sky, the still mysterious lights shining brightly. A part of his mind worried that Cecil wouldn't come at all, he'd change his mind, and figure that it was just too much work and stress to work things out. Maybe he'd realize Carlos wasn't all that perfect or great, that he could do better; there surely were plenty of men around Night Vale who wouldn't even flinch at seeing tendrils and a third eye.

A flood of relief coursed through him when he saw the headlights of an approaching and familiar truck. The vehicle parked next to his own, a second pause before Cecil got out and walked around to where Carlos was still seated on the trunk of his own car. He noted how the radio host wouldn't look up at him, he kept his eyes down, long shining black hair hanging down concealing his face from Carlos's view and his hands shoved in the pockets of his black and green pinstripe slacks.

"I didn't think you were going to show up."

Cecil just barely looked up at him, a nervous smile playing at his lips.

"Honestly I consider not coming, sorry" He looked away again like he was unsure of this.

"Oh...Um look about what happened-"

Cecil took a deep breath letting it out before he began to speak, interrupting anything Carlos was going to say.

"Right about that; I didn't mean to show you that. I swear and I know it's disgusting and I'm...I'm not normal, not right and I really don't blame you if you don't want to see me ever again. That's why I wasn't answering the phone, because I knew this would happen and this is what always happens with guys I meet. I don't blame you for wanting to break up with me, I really don't; I understand completely, because you really shouldn't have to be with something like me."

The words came quickly, almost too quickly for Carlos to actually pick up. Once Cecil finished speaking he took another breath letting it out in shakily, he peaked up at the scientist trying to read his expression.

"What, wh-why would I break up with you?" He asked sounding completely confused, he was still trying to grasp onto the things Cecil had just said to him.

Cecil met his gaze, he seemed a bit shocked by Carlos's question.

"Because I'm a monster" He responded slowly as if explaining something very obvious to a very dumb person

Carlos got up off of the car and went up to the taller man, he tried not to pay too much attention to how when he got closer to Cecil the older man took a step back from him as if again waiting for Carlos to strike him or yell at him. He reached out taking hold of the radio host's right hand giving it a light squeeze.

"You aren't a monster don't say that about yourself. God do you know how worried I've been about you, I thought something bad had happened, or you didn't want to talk to me anymore."

"You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was, I love you Cecil."

"You aren't scared of me?"

He still looked lost like he couldn't get why Carlos was holding his hand or being so sweet to him as if he hadn't seen anything out of the normal.

"No, I admit I acted like a dick back there when I saw...that and I didn't mean it like...I mean I'm not scared of you, you just shocked me a little bit, but then you ran off before I could say anything."

"You reacted normally, you reacted like somebody should react to something so horrible and disgusting. I just didn't want to stay around to hear it." He looked away again biting at his bottom lip.

Carlos moved his hand up to Cecil's cheek brushing the backs of his fingers against his skin then pushing his hair back out of the way.

"Don't talk about yourself that way, I was so worried about you."

The soft tone of his voice made Cecil relax into his touch, he placed his hand over Carlos's keeping it there. He liked the feel of him, the feeling of Carlos touching him and looking at him so adoringly. He just didn't feel that he deserved such things.

"I wasn't always like this, I was born human."

"It doesn't matter, you're still my same boyfriend."

Cecil smiled softly, "You really mean that?"

Carlos stepped a bit closer wrapping his arms around the older man's waist, he leaned up placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Yes" He whispered, kissing him again.

The radio host returned the embrace; he had forgotten how nice it was to hold Carlos, to kiss him, and the way he smelled like lavender chewing gum.


	5. Chapter 5

"So exactly how did this happen, you said that you weren't born with...Them" Carlos gestured with his hand towards Cecil's back, not entirely sure how to phrase what he wanted to say.

The two of them were sitting in Cecil's apartment, after their meet up the other day they had slowly worked back towards normal; as normal as things could possibly get at this point. He noticed how the radio host still couldn't really look him in the eye, his voice was a bit softer, and he just seemed shy and unsure of himself. He always acted differently around Carlos, but this was different in a way that made the scientist feel bad.

"I-it happened a few years ago, before you of course...I was sort of dating somebody else back then when this happened."

He looked away again, rubbing nervously at his arm. Carlos reached out taking hold of his hand giving it a light squeeze, Cecil tried to smile but it faded quickly.

"Can you tell me more or maybe if, if you're comfortable you can um show me...That is if you want, you really don't have to; I'm just curious. Science thing and all." He said laughing nervously, this time Cecil managed to smile for a second longer than the last time.

"I-I don't really feel comfortable with showing you; not that I don't trust you, I do." His eyes widened slightly as he looked at the younger man, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"It's okay, you don't have to; no pressure Cec."

"Wh-what do you want to know about them?"

The scientist thought over for a bit, he knew the things that he wanted to know, but he kept reminding himself that this was Cecil. This was his boyfriend, this wasn't an experiment or some strange goop he just found inside of a wrist watch; this was a person he loved more than anything even science.

"Do you know how they happened, like is it just something that happens or did somebody else do this to you?"

The older man gave a bit of a shrug.

"Nothing happened, nothing that I know of anyway, but I woke up and my back it hurt. It hurt like...It just felt like the skin was burning or like mega leeches were sucking at my blood or something, which is extremely normal in the summer time. When I went and checked it out in the mirror though it was...I had these stitched up, infected looking scars where the tentacles are now. It was weird and scared me a bit, but I did what we all do; got a bit drunk and pretended there was nothing weird. Which was fine until I finally saw them and then the guy I was with at the time saw them and..."

He stopped speaking, he gave Carlos's hand a squeeze almost like he wanted to make sure he wasn't ready to just get up and leave by this point.

"He didn't handle it well, I think I told you a bit about him."

"Yeah you told me, what about the eye?"

Carlos knew about the very few men that Cecil had been with in the past few years before they had even met. He knew little, but enough about the guy Cecil was currently speaking about. He knew something had happened, that the jerk had screamed at him, called him a freak, and even hit him before leaving the radio host alone and scared. He really didn't want him reliving those memories again.

"It happened a few months later, about the same thing really. I woke up with this horrid burning in my head and a line of stitches on my forehead, next thing I know a week later I'm getting inside of peoples minds and seeing their thoughts and memories. I have this eye coming out each time and it stayed away until after you came here, but it only came out twice...Then well it came out when you sort of died."

He trailed off again, the sad distant look was back in his violet colored eyes. Carlos hadn't had a clue that the older man had seen that; he'd always thought somebody told him about what happened. He remembered hearing Cecil's scared and breaking voice in the distance on the bowling alley's radio, remembered hating himself for being such a jackass to the one person who really cared if he lived or died, and thinking he had to make it up to him. It made his stomach hurt to now know that Cecil had seen it, he shouldn't have known about it that intimately.

"God Cecil, I'm so sorry; you shouldn't have had to see that."

"I couldn't help it, I-I still don't have a lot of control over it. I try for you though, I want to be normal for you." He smiled sadly at the other man.

Carlos wrapped his arms around his boyfriend hugging him to him, he buried his face in the crook of his neck.

"There's nothing wrong with you, you don't have to be anything for me other than yourself. I love you, I'm not going to hurt you like they did; I swear. You don't have to hide from me Cec."

The radio host let out a sigh of relief at hearing the younger man's words.

"That means a lot to me, thank you; you really are perfect."

Cecil pulled back a bit, he pressed his lips to the younger man's kissing him gently, hesitantly. Carlos kissed back more firmly, he placed a hand on the nape of the host's neck holding him there.

"I love you" He whispered against Cecil's lips before kissing him again.

The older man smiled into the kiss, his body felt more relaxed. Cecil kissed him once more then pulled away, he rested his head against the scientist's chest; his fingers idly played with the buttons on his lab coat.

"I can show them to you if you'd like, normally they come out the most when um I'm angry or scared or...Well sexually aroused, that's why I haven't really pushed for us to sleep together."

"I don't mind waiting, just whenever you're comfortable with it; same with showing yourself to me. You don't have to until you feel comfortable about doing it, okay?"

Cecil nodded in agreement, he snuggled closer to the younger man; Carlos lay back on the couch with the radio host resting on top of him. He combed his fingers through the other man's thick black hair enjoying the soft little sighs and contented sounds coming from the host's lips. He loved him so much, he couldn't imagine anything making him leave Cecil or scaring him off.


	6. Chapter 6

"You don't have to show me"

"N-no I need to, besides I want to be with you, and I need to know now if this is too messed up for you to handle."

Carlos wanted to argue him about that, tell him that it wasn't too much; he'd seen his other form and it hadn't bothered him back in the park so why would it bother him in a far less stressful and dangerous setting?

The two of them were in Cecil's bedroom; he insisted after three weeks of slowly getting back to what was considered normal for the two of them that they do this. He insisted that Carlos comes to his apartment, because then he could just leave; he said he hated it when his last boyfriend kicked him all the way to the door.

"I'm not scared of you."

The radio host smiled a bit.

He watched as the other man slowly pulled his t-shirt up over his head dropping it to the floor. The black tendrils worked their way out from behind his back, a soft sound of flesh could be heard and he noticed the older man flinch in pain. He wondered if it was more from the tendrils protruding from his back or the white third eye opening itself up; he noticed that the four black tendrils weren't as long or thick as they had seemed back in the dog park. They shined in the dimly lit bedroom, the tips were rounded off instead of pointed. They seemed like four extra arms, odd looking, but like arms none the less. Naturally he wanted to study everything about this; find where they were really attached to, how they stayed seemingly invisible most of the time tucked away in the older man's back, why they were even there, he wanted to know more about the third eye that had apparently witnessed his death along with many other things that normal sight and minds couldn't witness. He felt an itching urge to study all of these things until he looked into the violet eyes set on him, the sharpened teeth biting into a bottom lip, and that look of fear he hadn't seen for weeks. Carlos motioned with his hand for Cecil to come closer to the bed where he was seated; his boyfriend hesitated for a moment, probably thinking over past boyfriends reactions and the God awful things that had happened to him when he did expose himself to them and did get close to them. Carlos wasn't them though, he wished he knew their names because he wanted to hurt them for what they had done to Cecil.

When the other man was close enough Carlos reached out a cautious hand, he tried to ignore Cecil's slight recoil from his touch as his fingers brushed against his bare skin. He hadn't noticed the tattoos before, not until right now. Black ink standing out against tanned skin, all in the shapes of tentacles going along his stomach and his biceps. Carlos traced his fingers over the tattoos and their intricate designs; he noticed how the older man's breathing changed and his body tensed in a different way this time. He could feel those violet eyes locked on him, watching him with caution that was a bit hurtful to be totally honest, but completely understandable. Carlos leaned forward pressing his lips to his boyfriend's stomach, he was so warm and so real. He moved his hands to his hips holding them so that the other man couldn't move away from him. He kissed the tattoos from their base to the tips, he felt something brush against his shoulder; he glanced over in the direction of the touch to see one of the four tendrils prodding against him.

"S-sorry they um they do that, I know it's weird."

The words came out in a rush, he noticed the blush on Cecil's cheeks and just how ashamed he looked in the moment. Carlos pulled back, he gently took hold of the tendril that was still rubbing against his shoulder. He was surprised at how slick it felt and how warm like flesh; it really was just another extension, another limb. Just another part of his boyfriend and he loved it just like he loved the rest of him. He rubbed his thumb over the tip of the limb, stopping when he heard a sharp intake of breath; he looked up at the older man who was looking away from him and blushing once more.

"They-they're um really, really sensitive when I'm um...Yeah it's weird and that's why I kind of just didn't want to do this, because it just gets really strange."

"Does it feel good when I do this though?" He asked firmly rubbing the pad of his thumb over the tip, another sharp intake of breath this time with a soft moan answered his question.

"Thi-this isn't bothering you?" Cecil asked laughing nervously.

Carlos placed a kiss against the tendril he held in his hand.

"No, it's part of you; I love you, all of you."

"I figured you'd run like Hell or experiment on me."

"You're my boyfriend, not a lab experiment. Yeah I mean I want to know more about this, but that isn't really important right now. Right now I just want you to feel comfortable and understand that I want you right now, every part of you."

Cecil placed a hand on Carlos' cheek, "You really are perfect" he whispered as he seated himself on the younger man's lap.

Carlos placed his hands on his boyfriend's hips again holding him in place, pressed against his body. This time Cecil didn't apologize or act embarrassed when his extra limbs wrapped themselves around Carlos holding him while Cecil's fingers tangled themselves in the scientist's thick black hair. There was no pause or fearful caution when they kissed; it was passionate, relieved, and desperate. He didn't watch his teeth like he normally would; Carlos loved the feeling of those sharp teeth biting and nipping at his lip and his neck, he loved the marks he would find for days. He allowed the older man to lay him back on the bed, allowed him to remove his black dress shirt. Cecil allowed Carlos to touch, rub, and lick along his tendrils sending pleasure through his body he had seriously forgotten about.

Carlos sucked on the tip of the upper left limb, running his tongue back and forth as he sucked harder; he moaned at the sensation of sharpened teeth grazing against the side of his neck before biting down and sucking. He pulled his mouth off of the tendril releasing it from his grip, another tendril wrapped around his wrists holding them above his head, while the one he had been sucking on moved down between his legs rubbing at his arousal through his jeans. He moved his hips upwards up off of the bed needing more, wanting everything that he could get. Cecil's lips found his again kissing him hard, he wanted to tangled his fingers in his hair, drag his blunt nails down his bare back and leave welts there, but he was unable to at the moment and it was driving him crazy. He could only moan, whine, and thrust desperately up against the man on top of him.

"What do you want my sweet, perfect Carlos?" He whispered against his ear.

"Please Cec, I need you inside of me, now."

He always figured he would have been on top, the more dominant one, but that was months before he found out about the tendrils and back when he wasn't too aroused to really give a damn about dominance. He just needed to feel him.

This time he felt Cecil's hand between his legs, groping and rubbing firmly against him.

"Please, please Cecil"

"What is it?" He ran his tongue along the shell of his ear drawing another frustrated moan from the younger man.

"Please just fuck me, I need you inside of me."

The older man laughed against his ear, but this time his begging was answered. His boyfriend quickly removed his jeans and boxers along with his own, the remainder of their clothing being thrown to the floor. Carlos watched as the older man kissed down his body, his tongue trailing along his skin and fangs nipping at random patches of skin leaving red marks that would turn to bruises by morning. He could hear Cecil whispering 'mine' with every other bite; the older man couldn't help but chuckle at the way Carlos moaned and tossed his head back when he flicked his tongue over the slit of his dick before pulling back completely. Carlos' moans increased when he felt a tendril wrap around his member firmly stroking it while Cecil looked through the night stand by the bed for the bottle of lube that Carlos had to admit was well used. Cecil held the nearly empty bottle up in front of the younger man, raising an eyebrow as a smirk crossed his lips.

"I get lonely" He muttered looking away.

Cecil gave him a quick kiss.

"Do you think of me?"

"Of course, ca-can I ask you to do something really weird?"

The older man laughed, the idea of something weirder than the normal amount of weird was stupid.

"Of course you can, what is it?"

"Can you er use one of your tendrils to prepare me instead of your fingers?"

Cecil looked down at him curiously and Carlos realized just how dumb and mildly creepy that question had been.

"Shit I knew that was weird."

"No, well a bit, but normally I don't even get this far, and nobody likes them...At all, but I can't say I haven't thought about putting one of them inside of you."

This time Cecil was blushing, the tendril that had been holding his wrists released its grip. Carlos took the opportunity to place a hand on the back of his boyfriend's neck pulling him down and kissing him hard. Cecil broke from the kiss, he settled between the younger man's spread legs; Carlos watched in fascination as he coated the first four inches of his lower right tendril with lube. He placed his hands on Carlos' sides, he leaned down kissing him to distract him as he slowly pushed the tip of the tendril inside of him. The feeling was odd, but in a good sort of a way; he made his body relax against the intrusion. Focusing on Cecil kissing him, his fingers trailing over his sides, the discomfort and pain faded as the extra limb slowly pushed further inside of him before pulling out then slowly pushing back in, further this time. He felt a jolt of pleasure as the tip brushed against his prostate, he let out a loud moan closing his eyes tightly; the limb continued purposefully brushing against that certain spot inside of him.

"Fu-fuck Cecil, God that feels incredible."

He rocked his hips against the tendril inside of him, urging it to continue with what it was doing. He nearly forgot what they were originally supposed to do, but was reminded when his partner removed the extra limb completely.

"I don't exactly want you finishing yet, I want to feel you."

He used what remained in the bottle to coat his own dick before returning to his position of kneeling between Carlos' legs, his hands placed firmly on his thighs keeping them far apart. His violet eyes were locked on his boyfriend's as he slowly pushed inside of him; this was really worth waiting so long for. Cecil kissed him passionately, he pulled out then pushed back in his movements faster now. The already small amount of discomfort took no time at all to turn to pleasure especially when he hit against that spot like he had been earlier. This time his movements weren't as planned, as controlled; they were sporadic and eager. Carlos raked his nails down the older man's back, his legs wrapping around his waist as he pulled him closer needing to feel him deeper. He moaned and called out the older man's name over and over, his voice echoing off of the walls. His eyes closed tightly, teeth biting into his own bottom lip at the feeling of that tongue running along his collar bones and his chest.

"God it sounds so good to hear you say my name like that, keep going; I love it so fucking much."

His thrusts came hard and fast, Carlos' fingers were in his hair pulling and tugging. They kissed hungrily like they hadn't seen each other for years and wouldn't see each other for many years more. He met his boyfriend thrust for thrust, he could feel himself growing closer especially when a tendril wrapped around his cock, stroking him in time with each quick thrust of the other man's hips.

He tried to hold out, but came when those sharp teeth were in his neck again and that sweet voice was whispering obscene things into his ear. His muscles tightened around the older man's cock bringing him to his own orgasm, he came inside of the younger man his name falling from his lips.

They stayed in that position for a moment both trying desperately to catch their breath, Cecil slowly pulled out, he lay down on his side facing the scientist. Carlos rolled over so that he was facing him, he moved closer so that he was pressed against him. He felt the extra limbs wrap around him in a gentle embrace as if protecting him. This time when they kissed it was gentle.

"Thank you" Cecil whispered, he pushed Carlos' hair out of his face and behind his ear.

"What for?"

"Not yelling at me, not hating me, or beating me."

"I would never do that, especially that last one." He kissed him, reassuring him.

He wished he could erase those memories, he didn't want him waiting to be rejected that way.

"I know, you're different than them; you're so beautiful and kind and sweet and smart and caring."

Carlos usually didn't particularly enjoy when Cecil complimented him, especially since it was constant and dramatic. This time it didn't bother him so much, it only made him smile. He wanted Cecil to feel safe around him, that's why he wasn't going to treat any of this like it was abnormal, he wasn't going to study him, or run tests that he already knew would be extremely physically invasive all in order to learn more about these extra limbs. That part of his mind, the scientist wanted to know, wanted to see how they worked or where they attached to, but Cecil was his boyfriend and not something to study.

"I'm human, just like you, and nobody should treat another person like they treated you. I still wish you would give me their names, I'd love to tell them how I feel about the way they treated you. Maybe with a baseball bat."

Cecil laughed, he kissed the top of Carlos' head nuzzling against his hair.

"It's fine my beautiful, perfect, protective Carlos; really it is. I don't need you getting yourself into trouble because of some horrible people that I care to forget about."

"Just remember that they were wrong about what they said; you're perfect Cec...I was wondering, do they hurt when they come out?"

He lightly touched one of the tendrils draped over his side just in case his boyfriend didn't quite catch what he was talking about.

"Just a bit uncomfortable, but nothing to worry about. I think it's because I so rarely just let them unfurl."

Carlos yawned, he rested his head against the older man's chest.

"Then maybe you should let them out more often, at your place, or when we're alone."

"A-are you sure?"

Carlos nodded, "Yeah, I don't want you hurting yourself; I like them and I love you. Love everything about you."

"You're too good for me."

"No I'm not, you deserve to hear good things, c'mon let's get some sleep."

"Good night my perfect boyfriend, good night."

Carlos yawned in reply, he felt tired, and for the most part settled. There was some form of safety being held so protectively in his boyfriend's arms and tendrils, some comfort in the feeling of his warm breath against his skin, and knowing that for once he cared more about the person instead of an oddity he could potentially explore.

The End


End file.
